Iran warns Armenia, Azerbaijan after villages hit

The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Monday warned Armenia and Azerbaijan over any assault on its border towns and counties as the escalation of violence rises between the two nations across northwestern Iran's borders.

Comments by Saeed Khatibzadeh, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, came after several mortar shells hit Iranian villages across the border over the past days.

According to IRNA official news agencies, Ali Amiri, governor of Khoda Afarin country in Iran's East Azerbaijan province said on Thursday that five shells had hit Iranian areas near the borders, two of which fell on residential areas.

A six-year-old child was injured in the incident.

Video carried by the Iranian state television from the area showed at least two houses damaged by stray rockets and mortars.

Khatibzadeh added on Monday that Iran had worked up a ceasefire plan after consultations with both sides of the dispute and other regional countries.

The fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces continued on Sunday over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, with Azerbaijan accusing Armenia of targeting the country's cities that are far beyond the conflict zone.

(Image Credit: AP).